Becky Albertalli – The Upside of Unrequited

I have to admit I only picked this book because the cover jumped out at me when I was scrolling through the library ebook app. I know, I know, don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

But I did, and it was a mistake, I just couldn’t get into this book at all. It felt hugely predictable to me which definitely diminishes the enjoyment I get, I want some surprises thrown in to keep me on my toes!

And it might just have been me, but it felt like the author was trying to throw in as many stereotypes and minorities into the book as she could. I’m all for full representation and diversity in literature, but I feel like it just felt forced in many places, and it felt like the author put more effort into doing that than giving the characters personalities that I could actually relate to.

Apart from that, this book just felt like many many other books in this genre, overweight girl who has never been kissed is desperate not to be a virgin anymore and feels like her life is terrible, until the hot guy falls in love with her and everything is right with the world again. To me, I don’t really think that’s a very empowering message to send – I’d rather the girl figures out that her life is good without the boy.

Clearly this is a popular book as it has a lot of good ratings on Goodreads, but just not for me!